Michael Billingslea Jr.

Michael Billingslea Jr. has a diverse work experience spanning several roles and industries. Michael currently works as a Business Development Manager at Bruegmann Group, where they have successfully developed the Southeast US region and Canada, achieving $2M in sales growth in just 9 months. Michael is responsible for establishing strong relationships with leaders to generate new and repeat business opportunities. In this role, they also lead a team consisting of an Associate Account Manager and Marketing Manager.

Prior to their current role, Michael was the Chief Executive Officer at Charlie x Wood, where they created overall omnichannel business development objectives and strategies, resulting in consistent sales growth and increased store distribution. Michael managed sales forecasting and trade with both domestic and international suppliers, and developed partnerships with third-party vendors to enhance the website, customer acquisition, marketing, promotions, and search initiatives.

Before Charlie x Wood, Michael held the position of Territory Sales Manager at Republic National Distributing Company, where they grew sales by 43% by maintaining existing relationships and generating new business. Michael analyzed competitor activities to identify opportunities for premium placement in-store and attended industry events and conferences to generate business and sales.

Michael also has experience working at Ahold Delhaize as a Category Manager, where they maximized the development of direct reports and was accountable for revenue, units, and gross margin for assigned categories with over $300M in annual sales. Michael managed vendor and broker relationships and service levels.

Prior to that, they were a Senior Category Manager at Kao Corporation, where they served as the lead Walmart Category Captain, supplying optimized planograms that resulted in double-digit sales increases. Michael also managed assortment and inventory for over 200 planograms in the hand and body lotion category. Michael was an expert in JDA and taught the functions of ProSpace to the core team.

Before their role at Kao Corporation, Michael worked at Kroger in various positions, including Assistant Category Manager, Sales Planning Analyst, and Store Manager/Perishable General Manager. As an Assistant Category Manager, they managed 4 categories with sales exceeding $100M and executed category concepts such as assortment reviews, pricing analysis, and promotional planning. As a Sales Planning Analyst, they collected and analyzed data to evaluate sales and profitability trends. As a Store Manager/Perishable General Manager, they implemented strategies to achieve departmental objectives and supervised over 100 associates.

Overall, Michael has a strong background in business development, sales management, category management, and team leadership across various industries.

Michael Billingslea Jr. attended Michigan State University and earned a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Retailing and Retail Operations. Prior to that, they attended Cass Technical High School where they focused on Business Administration and Management, General. Additionally, they obtained a certification in Six Sigma-Yellow Belt from Kroger. The specific years of education and certification are not provided.